WaPo’s Pearlstein didn’t intend to disparage TheStreet’s Feuerstein

Washington Post business columnist Steven Pearlstein has sent the following letter to TheStreet.com editor in chief Janet Guyon in the wake of his Sept. 27 column that was critical of TheStreet reporter Adam Feuerstein:

Dear Janet and Adam,

I understand from your letter, which was posted on your website, that you read my Sept. 27 column (“Northwest Biotherpeutics Stock Woes Highlight the Harm of Short Sales”) differently than I had intended. So let me be clear: I did not asset, or mean to imply, that Adam committed securities fraud by engaging in a conspiracy with short sellers to drive down Northwest Bio’s stock price. I did not write, or mean to imply, that Adam had an financial interest in the trading of Northwest Bio’s Shares or otherwise derived financial benefit from market participants.

Adam and I obviously disagree about Northwest Bio. Although I believe Adam’s coverage of the company has been unduly negative — just as I am sure he believes my column was unduly positive about the company — I never meant to imply that either he of TheStreet lacks journalistic integrity.

Please feel free to publish this letter in its entirety,

Sincerely,

Steven Pearlstein

The letter is posted here.

For the record, Pearlstein’s column called Feuerstein’s reporting “filled with exaggeration, mischaracterization and half-truths, but curiously have also coincided with the spikes in short trading.”